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I need a beginner's guide

T

Truenemesis

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 18, 2006
4
0
Hey I just ordered a macbook from apple. Ive always wanted to switch to mac tel because i can get the best of all worlds (productivity of ubuntu linux, gaming on xp, and gaming & productivity on os x.) I might not even have to install ubuntu linux if debian packages are readable on OS X.

Anyway, I am a hard core developer and I love textmate, but I am a noob to the OS X environment. Does anyone have a link to a beginner's guide to using OS X? Such as all the short cut keys, command line prompts, editing the system config, and more...
 
Not a link to a web resource, but I recommend David Pogue's Mac OSX book in the Missing Manuals series. It does a very good job at laying out the basics of the operating system and also points out the similarities and differences between OSX and Windows. Plus there is (at least in the Jaguar edition -- don't know why it would have been taken out) an appendix that acts as a "What's the Mac equivalent of ______ in Windows?" guide.
 
Does it take long to figure out all the key shorcuts, lil fixings in OS X, and all the lil features of OS X? Whats the best way to learn visually? Just keep trying out everything? And whats a good website to get all the new info on new free apple software?
 
All pull down menus have the associated keyboard shortcuts listed next to them. Plus many are cross-app, like cmd-Oo (command (or cmd) is the name of the apple key/squiggly icon next to your spacebar) is just about universal for "Open", as is cmd-w for "Close window", and cmd-q to "Quit", just to name a few.
 
All of the sources listed above are good. I also like the Missing Manual series, especially Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition by David Pogue. Very good for people who were very competent under Windows and want to avoid being disoriented on a new OS. Also check out the built-in Help.

At some point you will want to install the developer's tools which come with the machine. There are books on this too. Since I no longer do any development, I will leave you to search for those reviews.

Give yourself time to adjust to OS-X before you start modifying it. The Windows mindset is to think about what Windows wants you to do. The Mac mindset is to ignore the OS and think about what you want to do. This takes a while for some people, but most come to prefer the Mac way.

Explore, ask and enjoy.
 
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